Newsletter
Brock Hunter
Cedar City
Biology Major
Leadership Engagement Track
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Presenting Research on Kalanchoe and Light Levels
My project first involved researching about the Kalanchoe plant, also known as the "Mother of Thousands." It is a succulent plant, meaning that its leaves store water in addition to performing photosynthesis. My experiment was to determine if different intensities of light levels would affect how succulent the leaves were. I had a shade group, an ambient light group (room light), and a high light group with six plants in each one. I originally grew the plants over the course of the Fall 2017 semester and continued my study during the Spring 2018 semester.
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I worked with Dr. Matt Ogburn to determine the best way to gather relevant data and present my results during the first half of the Spring 2018 semester. I then prepared a poster to present my findings during the Festival of Excellence on April 3, 2018. For my EDGE project I wanted to present my research in a professional setting so that I could know if that was a field I would want to pursue as a career in the future. To do this I had to find a way to simplify my data so that other people could understand it easily. In the end I was able to share what I had discovered with other people and I learned that I really enjoy teaching others.
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I was originally asked to create a research project in my Plant Anatomy class in Fall 2017. When I finished that initial project, Dr. Ogburn approached me and asked if I would like to continue my research and present my findings at the Festival of Excellence. I decided to accept and I had the thought to also count this independent research as my EDGE project. I had been looking into becoming a botanical researcher but I was unsure if that was really the path I wanted to take. This project gave me the chance to get a better idea of what to expect in that field.
Some of the challenges I faced with this project included buying materials, communication gaps, and being able to present my data in a usable fashion. The materials in my study were mostly provided by SUU, but I still had to determine how to set up my experiment so that there were as few variables as possible. For instance, I had to find a light bulb that would not drastically affect the temperature of the plants. There were also communication gaps where poor communication delayed results and I almost missed the deadline for the submission of my poster to the Festival of Excellence. With the poster itself, I had to learn how to condense my results so that only the most useful data was present, which required me to delete half of my original rough draft for the poster and to simplify the remainder.
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I was able to share my research with many students during the Festival of Excellence. They learned more about succulent plants and how light conditions could affect medicinal succulent plants like Aloe vera if my findings carried over.
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Through this project I was able to do and learn many things. I learned several techniques used by researchers to obtain and quantify data for instance. I also had the opportunity to share my findings in a professional setting. This will help me in the future as I advance my education or pursue a career. I also learned that while I find research fascinating, I prefer sharing knowledge and seeing others learn. Thanks to my project I now know what direction I want to go in life. I want to be a teacher.
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"I finally decided that I want to be a teacher. The pay won't be very good but I think I will really enjoy it."